Pages

05 December 2017

The Bernadotte Emeralds

JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images

The Swedish vaults are packed with colorful gemstones, including complete parures set with sapphires, amethysts, and aquamarines. The family also once owned an enormous parure of emerald jewels, but that left the family ages ago and now belongs to the Norwegian royals. Although the Swedish royals lost their major emerald parure, the collection does still include a number of emerald pieces, including a historic suite: the Bernadotte Emeralds.

Photo licensed to The Court Jeweller; DO NOT REPRODUCE.

The three-piece demi-parure of emerald and diamond jewelry once belonged to the first Bernadotte king, Carl XIV Johan. It consists of a large necklace that was originally worn as a belt, plus two brooches. The larger brooch was originally a belt buckle. Above, Princess Sibylla wears the necklace and the larger brooch with the Connaught Diamond Tiara at the state opening of parliament in 1957.

Crown Princess Victoria has also worn the Bernadotte emeralds on several occasions. In 2012, she paired the necklace and the smaller brooch with the Diamond Four-Button Tiara at the Nobel Prize banquet.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Victoria actually wore the complete demi-parure on that occasion; above, you can see that she placed the larger brooch from the set in her hair.

Note: This is an updated version of an earlier post, with new text and images.